


Your Number

by Blue_Blossom90



Category: K-pop, SHINee
Genre: F/M, OC, One Shot, SHINee World, Shawol - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-19
Updated: 2015-11-19
Packaged: 2018-05-02 08:04:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5240864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_Blossom90/pseuds/Blue_Blossom90





	Your Number

**Author's Note:**

  * For [The_Writer_Of_Many_Things](https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Writer_Of_Many_Things/gifts).



Kiki hated everything. She had never been angrier at the world than what she was now. The universe hated her and she hated it right back.

Heaving an angry sigh, she pulled her damp hair into a messy bun at the nape of her neck. Staring at her freckled, porcelain skinned reflection, she cursed the heavens for not making her a natural redhead. Already the vibrancy of her flames was dimming; her roots daring to peek their brunette heads.

“Could this year get any worse?” She swung her bag over her shoulder, storming out of the house, ignoring her mother’s endless protests. She’d had enough of her parents for a lifetime.

As her car groaned into angry, ancient life, her phone buzzed. She spared it a glance, hoping against hope that it’d be the guy she’d been crushing on.

Of course it wasn’t.

Instead, Kiki dove deeper into her foul mood as she read her team’s leader instructing them all to meet early the next morning for a re-shoot. She would’ve flung her ratty old 2G phone out the window if she had had the money to replace it.

Angry tears welled up in her eyes as she merged into traffic. Kiki wondered if she would be this upset if the project had been for a drama course instead of communications.

At the tender age of twenty, Kiki had already suffered an existential crisis when Plan A had fallen apart. Now, Plan B didn’t seem to be working out too well either.

Her parents pressure her to do things one way, meddling in all of her assignments, her classmates demanded too much of her, imposing the lead role of their short film on her. Long hours of filming, long arguments with her parents, even longer work hours for minimum wage, had Kiki at the end of her rope.

What frustrated her the most was the fact that she wasn’t sure she wanted to proceed with Plan B. Another terrifying fact was that she had no Plan C.

Kiki’s life felt like a tangled up ball of yarn that a satanic cat had been playing with too roughly. _That_ was saying something, Kiki _loved_ cats.

 Seeking solace in her favorite bookstore seemed to be the only way of easing the pressure off of her heart. Tucked away in a secret corner of town existed Ms. B’z. The place had been around for ages, changing owners every couple of years, all taking on the identity of the immortal Ms. B.

What made Ms. B’z great was the fact that only a handful of people knew about it. Hidden behind a law firm and pharmacy, the tiny building contained thousands of books. Books occupied every nook and cranny of the place! The maze of paperbacks, with their cracked spines, the towers of hardcovers with beaten corners, and the scent of old books made Kiki feel right at home.

Plugging her earphones in, sipping her double chocolate chip frappe, Kiki half walked, half danced through the labyrinth that was Ms. B’z. She picked up a book every now and then, flipping the pages just to get a whiff of aged stories.

At one point, she stopped long enough to begin reading a novel. She didn’t start at the beginning; she opened the book randomly, starting at her own made _media res_. Her drink’s straw found its way to her mouth as if by second nature. The story made her think of her friend, Nemi with all the dragons, long journeys, and third person omniscient narrative. High fantasy was just up Nemi’s alley.

A loud thud, followed by the alarming sound of collapsing books made Kiki jump. She set down the novel, following the source of the struggle. A man, clad in tailored work clothes tried to free his foot from the fallen tower of books at the end of the aisle.

“Oh, no, are you alright?” Kiki asked as she hurried to help.

“Yeah,” he said, laughing. “I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going.”

“You really shouldn’t do that here,” Kiki advised. “Books stick out in every direction, you really could end up getting hurt.”

“What about you?” he asked. There was a glint in his eyes, a playful smile on his lips.

“Excuse me?” She began sticking up the old volumes into a tidy tower.

“You were dancing through the aisles.”

Pausing, Kiki felt her cheeks turning pink. “I—um—what—that—!”

The man smiled at her. He had such a dazzling smile! It made Kiki think of sunshine and summer mornings.

“It was really cute,” he said, helping her clean up the mess he made.

“C—cute?”

Kiki slapped her hand against her mouth; she’d squeaked!

The man’s smile deepened, marking laugh lines, crinkling his eyes. No one had such a happy smile, no one else could smile sunshine. Kiki almost expected him to laugh rainbows.

“Yes, cute. I’m Jinki, Lee Jinki.”

She shook his offered hand; a strong sturdy hand with a wide palm and short fingers.

“Kiki, I go by Kiki.”

“In that case, I go by Onew.”

He stacked up the last of the books, helping her up. After dusting off his pants a little, he pulled out is wallet, took out a business card, and offered it to her. He smiled so widely, Kiki felt herself growing shy.

The pink of her cheeks deepened into an angry crimson, however, when she read the information on the card: _Kim Kibum, Stylist and Makeover Specialist_.

She looked down at her Hufflepuff sweats and the yellow shirt with the tiny hole by its hem. Her sneakers were old, beat up, dirty little things. Suddenly, Kiki became very aware of her freckled face, her messy hair, and the redness of her nose caused by the constant blowing her accursed allergies brought upon her.

His smile made her want to cry. At a loss for words, Kiki stood still for a few moments, staring at the business card, crushed under the weight of his indirect insult.

“Would you please call sometime?” Onew said.

That did it.

Kiki might not have been a natural redhead, but she sure carried a fiery tempter to break the stereotype. She looked at the flawlessly handsome man before her dead in the eye. Poor Onew had no idea what awaited him.

“Oh my gosh,” she started. “Who do you think you are?”

Onew’s smile faltered a little. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Who the hell do you think you are? Do you go around telling girls to change the way they look? Please, don’t even try that with me. I will not conform to the beauty norms imposed on women for the sake of men! This stupid patriarchal concept of beauty is a load of bullshit.”

“W—what?”

“I bet you expected me to cry. Maybe your charm-and-strike tactic works with other girls, but not with me.”

“Kiki, I—”

“No, you listen to me buck-o. You’re an asshole through and through. If you’re trying to get girls to feel bad about themselves only for the sake of your business, let me tell you something, I’m bringing you down! The internet is a powerful place, just you wait and see. You’ll regret ever having messed with us girls. Messy hair and all!”

She slapped the card on his chest. It felt as if she’d hit a concrete wall, but she resisted the urge to shake the sting off her hand as she walked away, leaving him looking very taken aback.

“Big words, Kiki,” she muttered. “But can you really do anything about it?”

She stopped by the shelf she’d been reading by, taking the novel in her hands, she stormed to the only register in the place.

“K—Kiki! Wait!”

She knew Ms. B’z like the back of her hand, so she managed to lose the assbutt in the written labyrinth.

“Did you find everything okay, dear?” Ms. B asked as she rung her up. Kiki owed her a whooping two dollars.

“Yes, thank you so much! How’s Bootzie?”

“Oh, he’s such a devil. At least he doesn’t topple book towers over like that nice, handsome gentleman. I heard books falling a few minutes ago. I’m going to have to add some shelves in here for his safety.”

Kiki suppressed a frown. “He comes here often?”

“Every week. He used to help me out with the stacks, but he’s too clumsy. He falls more towers than he makes! Sometimes, I wonder if he’s just trying to be funny.” Ms. B laughed as she waved her goodbye.

A gust of wind blew her hair into her face. Bootzie meowed as he wound his body between her legs. She gave him a warm smile, feeling the prickling of tears behind her rapid blinks.

Taking Bootzie into her arms, she rounded to the back where Ms. B kept a quaint, fenced little reading area. She buried her face in the gentle kitty’s fur. She could call Nemi, but Kiki wouldn’t even know where to begin or what to tell her. Instead, she held Bootzie closer, scratching his little head, wishing she could trade places with him.

“Kiki?”

She froze. How could a voice of melted sunlight, warmly alluring and comforting belong to someone so awful?

Onew stood by the entrance to the tiny reading area. He’d loosened his tie, rolled up his sleeves; his hair stuck out in all directions, almost as if he’d attacked it with frustration. He cleared his throat as he took a step forward.

The tip of his polished shoe caught the very obvious, perfectly avoidable, uneven, cracked tile. Onew stumbled forward in an alarming manner. Kiki screamed, reaching out to break his fall.

Onew nearly slammed into her tiny, short body. He took her by the shoulders, steadying them both. Kiki held him upright, pushing against his rock hard chest.

He pulled himself up, looking extremely embarrassed. His eyes were wide, his face long, seriously drawn. The absence of his smile made his aura shift drastically. It was almost as if all the world’s warmth had been shut away behind his tight expression.

“Kiki, I didn’t mean—”

“Save it.”

“No, please listen to me. That card,” he followed her out of the reading area and into the parking lot. “It wasn’t what you think it was.”

“Right.”

“No, _please._ ”

Onew jumped in front of her, tripping yet again, this time on his own two feet. Kiki couldn’t help feeling alarmed. He really seemed like a huge klutz, the kind that had too many bruises on his legs because of how much he fell or hit them.

“What I’m trying to say—what I wanted—argh!” Frustrated, he attacked his once perfectly styled hair, making it messier than what it had already been.

He took a deep breath, stepping away from her. Kiki bit her lip, wondering if she should just pepper spray him and book it.

“Let me try this again, please?”

“I don’t know what you mean. If you don’t move, I’ll pepper spray the fuck out of your eyes.”

Onew grew visibly pale before her, but he didn’t move. He breathed in deeply, combing his hair back into perfection. He reached into his pocket, pulling the card out again.

“Are you fucking serious?” Kiki’s cheeks flushed. Angry tears sprung from her eyes.

Onew looked at her tenderly, offering it to her. She glared at it.

It wasn’t until he also offered her a pen that she realized he’d flipped the card over on its back. She looked at him, still unsure and weary.

“Back there, I thought I handed you my card. I didn’t realize I’d pulled out Key’s. I’m sorry, really, I didn’t mean to offend you.”

His expression cleared up with each word. His furrowed brow smoothed, the tightness of his lips relaxed. Kiki found herself clinging to his words, praying that he really meant what he was saying.

“So?”

Onew unleashed the full force of his sunshine smile on her. “So I’m saying that I’m an idiot that doesn’t know how to go about telling a beautiful girl he would like to take her out to dinner.”

Kiki’s heart stopped for a painful second before it jumpstarted back again at full speed. Her stomach coiled and uncoiled. She could do nothing but stare at him.

Onew laughed, reaching over to tuck a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. He gazed into her eyes, his beautiful smile never once releasing her.

“Hey,” he said in a smooth, melodious voice. “Can I have your number?”


End file.
